Mr. Sundance

01.22.11

Robert Redford on Sundance and His Future

The hunky founder of Sundance opens up to Nicole Laporte

“O.K., what’s up?”

This is how Robert Redford, i.e. The Most Important Person on The Planet, as far as the Sundance Film Festival is concerned, starts a conversation. It’s Friday afternoon, and he’s just finished an interview for Sundance Channel, is about to dash off to do God knows what (judging by the number of clipboard-carrying women hovering around him, the list is long), and we have somehow managed to snatch a few minutes of his time.

Robert Redford (SundanceChannel.com)

Before we get started, though, yes, he still looks Robert-Redford hunky. The hair is more reddish these days, and he likes to tuck under a black calf-skin hat. (The momentary displacement of the hat caused a mini panic before his Sundance Channel interview, with nervous cries of “Mr. Redford’s hat? Anybody?” Thankfully, it was retrieved.) But he is still all fine features and cowboy charisma, all the more so in his blue-jeans, leather boots, and blue, long-johnny shirt.

Asked what his role is, 25 years after he founded Sundance, Redford says: “I would rather be behind the scenes, because if you’re out in front, you walk into all the hype and energy, and sometimes it’s overwhelming. You can’t breathe. So I prefer to be behind. And I’m able to step further and further back as things are able to go on their own.”